Biden-Netanyahu call begins, with Kamala Harris expected to join – reportsUS vice-president Kamala Harris is expected to join president Joe Biden for his call with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday, a source familiar with the situation told Reuters, with Netanyahu’s office reporting the call has started.
The talks are expected to include discussion of Israeli plans for a retaliatory strike on Iran, after Iran launched a wave of missiles against Israel on 1 October in response to Israel’s assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. Netanyahu has also said that Israel believes it killed Nasrallah’s most likely successor.
Harris, who is standing for election against former US president Donald Trump in November, is generally considered to be more lukewarm an ally to Netanyahu than Biden has been, although there is no sign that a Harris administration would not continue to provide financial and military assistance to Israel.
Biden has been anxious that any Israeli action against Iran is limited and avoids widening the crisis in the Middle East and starting a full blown regional war. Iran, for its part, has already promised that it will respond to any Israeli attack, and media reports in the Islamic Republic have said Tehran’s military has already prepared at least ten possible response scenarios.